“Their passionate longing for each other
aches with the pain of being young, and is far
sexier than a hundred novels about modern
teenagers.”
Amanda Craig, The Times.

The inspiration for these stories began
years ago when I first learned about the
early Quakers and was struck by their
vitality, faith and courage in the face of
relentless persecution. They rejected the
formal structure of the established church,
had no priests, met in fields or barns or
each others’ homes, and refused to pay
church tithes. The state passed laws that
made their meetings illegal, and sometimes
whole communities would be thrown into
prison, leaving their children to keep the
meetings alive. I knew I had to write their
story.

I began with two young people in rural
Shropshire in 1662. Fifteen-year-old
Susanna, the eldest child in a Quaker
weaver’s family, sees a life of struggle and
persecution ahead of her and fears she may
not have the courage to endure it.
Seventeen-year-old Will , the son of a
wealthy wool merchant, is scholarly and
thoughtful, brought up an Anglican but drawn
to the Quakers. Will and Susanna fall in
love, and the story is told through both
their voices.

I started writing without knowing exactly
how the love story would develop, or what
Will would decide to do with his life. When
I reached the end I knew I had to write a
sequel – and this new story took Will and
Susanna into London at the time of the
Plague and the Great Fire.

The third book, Seeking Eden, begins
seventeen years later, and again is told in
two voices. The first is that of Josiah,
Will and Susanna’s son. I knew from my
research that Will and Susanna would have
suffered years of fines and imprisonment in
London. Many Quakers had already emigrated
to the New World in search of freedom of
conscience; and in the 1680s William Penn, a
wealthy and inspirational Quaker, acquired a

large tract of land in America and founded the
colony of Pennsylvania to be a haven for those
fleeing religious persecution. Will and Susanna
already had friends in the New World and it seemed
inevitable that they too would emigrate with their
three children.

It was only when I began researching the
history of Pennsylvania that I realised that
some of the early Quakers kept slaves – and
that most people, including William Penn,
did not consider owning slaves to be wrong.
It was at this point that another voice
entered my emerging story: that of Tokpa, an
African slave, whose plight forces Josiah to
confront the reality of slavery and his own
part in it.

“This is powerful, restrained and
absorbing storytelling at its very best.”
Jack Ousbey, Carousel.

“Ann Turnbull writes with clarity and
power, drawing the reader into the inner turmoil
of credible characters.” Elaine Williams,
TES.

“Both No Shame, No Fear and Forged in the
Fire are written in plain, direct language that
is as honest and engaging as its characters.
Their passionate intelligence and moral
integrity will engage thoughtful readers of 12+
at a deep level.”Amanda Craig, The Times.

“Riveting in its dramatic historical
context...Forged in the Fire also contains the
timeless themes of love, jealousy, friendships
and marriage.” Marie-Louise Jensen, Writeaway!